Expression of HLA Class I and Class II in Gastric Carcinoma in Relation to Pathologic Stage

Abstract

The expression of HLA class I and II antigens was studied in 41 patients with gastric cancer and in 2 normal stomachs. The normal gastric epithelia were diffusely stained for class I antigens. No staining was observed for class II. In gastric cancer an overall reduction in staining was observed, which was related to the degree of tumor penetration through the gastric wall. In tumors which penetrated the mucosa and submucosa only, 80–90% of tumor cells were stained for class I, as well as the normal areas surrounding the tumor. On the other hand, in tumors which penetrated through the organ to the fat, only 10–20% of cells were stained. Staining for class II was observed in only 12 cases, all of them advanced, with penetration to muscle or fat. No staining was observed in the normal areas surrounding the tumor. The importance of HLA antigens in immune surveillance is discussed.

Clinical significance of HLA class I heavy chain expression in patients with gastric cancer

“…With regard to gastric cancer, only a few studies investigated the expression of HLA-I [21][22][23][24][25]. Ferron et al [21] analyzed the expression of HLA-I and II antigens on gastric carcinomas and autologous mucosa by cryopreserved tissue samples, and they reported that the autologous mucosa lacked the expression of HLA antigens before becoming malignant.…”

“…Ferron et al [21] analyzed the expression of HLA-I and II antigens on gastric carcinomas and autologous mucosa by cryopreserved tissue samples, and they reported that the autologous mucosa lacked the expression of HLA antigens before becoming malignant. Klein et al [22] reported that reduced HLA-I expression in gastric cancer, which correlated with deeper cancer invasion. Their study has analyzed expression of the entire HLA-I complex using polyclonal antihuman b2 microglobulin.…”

CORRELATION BETWEEN TUMOUR AND SERUM β2m EXPRESSION IN PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER

“…These alterations include imbalances of expression between the different loci at the MHC, and either a decreased or increased expression of class I MHC-encoded antigens (Goodenow et al, 1985;Festenstein & Garido, 1986;Garcia-Espejo et al, 1986;Blackmore ef al., 1987;Festenstein, 1987). In a variety of human tumours, reduced expression of HLA class I has been reported (Kabawat et al, 1983;Doyle et al, 1985;Lopez Nevot et al, 1986) and in some tumours this attenuation was correlated with the degree of tumour differentiation (Eyal etal., 1990), aggressiveness (Klein et al, 1990b), invasiveness (Klein et al, 1991), and survival (Levin et al, 1991a).…”

The Significance of Soluble lnterleukin-2, Soluble Interleuk in-2 Receptors, Soluble ICAM-1 and β₂-Microglobulin in Breast Cancer Patients

“…MHC class I antigens, which are present on all nucleated cells, are required for the lysis of malignant cells by cytotoxic T cells [23], In experimental tumors, reduced expres sion of MHC class I antigens has been de scribed, and this attenuation correlated di rectly with the ability of the tumor cells to avoid immune rejection and develop in im munocompetent hosts [24]. In several human tumors, reduced expression of HLA class I antigens has been described [25][26][27], which correlated with the degree of tumor aggres siveness [25], differentiation [26], and surviv al [27,28], (32-Microglobulin (p^M), which forms the light chain of the HLA class I molecule, is an 11,800-dalton, single-chain polypeptide and is present on the surface of the cells as part of the HLA complex [29]. When the HLA com plex is metabolized, the P2M sheds into the extracellular fluid and can be measured in the serum.…”